L-M-N-O-P
by JudithWilde
Summary: Nick and Judy try parenting, told from unique perspectives over the span of many years. Take a break from all the angst in this is fluff filled story.
1. Chapter 1

"Lizzie! Lizzieee!" The sound of Eliza's older sister yelling echoed from down the hall. Eliza ignored her, annoyed to be called by her kit name. Lizzie was a name for babies and Eliza was eight now. Far too old to be called a baby name. She continued playing with her dolls who, at the moment, were having a very important tea party. Light thudding footsteps grew louder until they stopped at the doorway to the bedroom. The room, usually loud and full of Eliza's siblings, had twelve kit-sized beds and was deserted except for her and her sister. Eliza looked up at Emma who was rudely interrupting her alone time. It wasn't everyday that all of her siblings would be out of the way for such a long period of time and Eliza wanted to savor every moment of having the beautiful dolls all to herself. She wished she had hidden the dolls so that Emma wouldn't make her share, but it was too late now.

"What is it, Em?" Eliza groaned dramatically.

Emma hopped in place, her ears standing straight up as she spoke. "Everyone's looking for you. Aunt Judy is here!" Eliza stared blankly. They had hundreds of aunts and uncles and she didn't understand why everyone was downstairs just to see one Bunny.

"So?" She shrugged and continued filling the teacups with imaginary tea.

"The one who got married to a Fox!" Emma's eyes were wide with excitement and she smiled as if what she said held the magic words to make Eliza race downstairs.

Eliza sighed. "So?" She didn't care if Bunny Claus himself were downstairs. She wouldn't give up this isolation for anything.

"Well don't you wanna see their little kits, Lily and Noah? One of them has really cool eyes! It's like purple but it has green in the middle and-"

"Wait. They have little kits?" This peaked Eliza's interest. Little kits were like dolls, but alive! She loved playing with them and her mom stopped having them awhile ago so the only time she saw any were when other relatives would visit.

"Yeah! Come on!" Eliza hurriedly followed behind her older sister hoping there were at least eight kits so that she would get a turn to hold one. Downstairs, her forty-seven siblings were crowded into the large family room. Every chair and couch was taken up and a chorus of aw's and coos came from the front of the room where most of her siblings were grouped. Next to the large group of her siblings stood a red-orange Fox eating blueberries. She'd seen Foxes before at school but none had ever been in her house. He towered above everyone and had startlingly green eyes. The emerald eyes glanced her way and the Fox's mouth opened to a sharp-toothed smile. Eliza looked away, feeling uneasy about the unfamiliar mammal whose name she didn't know.

"There you are, Lizzie," remarked the voice of Eliza's father. Eliza crossed her arms ready to tell him not to call her a baby name anymore, but then she got a glimpse of the kits past her older siblings. She raced over, hopping with every other step, and tried to push past some of her brothers.

"Wait your turn, Lizzie!" Eddie said after she attempted to shove him out of the way. Eliza huffed, staring at her siblings' backs, and wishing she could see the new kits. She was one of the youngest in her family and was always last to everything. Suddenly she rose into the air in what she thought was magic, but turned out to be her dad lifting her up. She grinned and looked back at him.

"Thanks, Daddy." She shone her toothy grin.

"No problem, Lizzie," he responded warmly. Eliza stopped smiling and fought the urge to roll her eyes at the kit name, deciding to focus her attention onto the center of the circle.

"Ugh. There's only two!?" Eliza exclaimed looking at the kits. One was a brown color and one had the same orange fur as the Fox. Eliza groaned. Now she would never get a turn to hold the funny looking kits. The world flew upward as Eliza's dad quickly brought her to the ground. She was about to object but her father spoke first.

"Don't say things like that, Lizzie. I think your Aunt Judy overheard you," her father warned in a hushed tone. The excited buzz of the room made it so that only Eliza could hear his words. Her eyebrows pulled together and she turned to see her Aunt Judy rushing out of the room, and the bright orange Fox following after her.

"So?" Eliza didn't understand what she could have said wrong. Her words didn't seem mean when she had said them.

Her dad cocked his head. "Ah. You weren't down here when your mom and I explained what happened a month ago when the kits were born. You know how there are two little kits here?" Eliza nodded slowly. "Well there was a third one and he, uh, went to sleep but didn't wake up."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "I know what dying is, Dad. You don't have to-" She stopped talking and realized how her words made Aunt Judy sad.

Her dad's eyes narrowed. "Young lady, cut the attitude or it's timeout." Eliza eagerly apologized. She would do anything to stay out of timeout. It was complete boredom for ten whole minutes! "Don't apologize to me," her dad said, looking towards the direction Aunt Judy went.

"Oh," Eliza said, understanding. She walked cautiously towards the room Aunt Judy went into, having to sidestep the siblings that got in her way. Once she turned the corner into the dining room, she saw her aunt and the Fox hugging each other. The situation looked too private and she wasn't sure how to approach. She heard the Fox saying words but they were too quiet for Eliza to understand. She looked back at the family room down the hall and then to the staircase beside her. There were too many waiting to hold the kits and Eliza knew there was no chance that she'd get a turn. She quietly climbed the stairs, deciding she'd just play with her dolls again.

After twenty minutes or so, Eliza heard someone coming up the stairs. After having the room to herself for so long, Eliza was beginning to feel bored and she hoped it was one of her sisters coming to play with her. "Lizzie?" a woman's voice asked.

"In here," Eliza replied, recognizing her Aunt Judy's voice. When the adult Bunny steps in the room Eliza gasps and hopps up and down. "You brought the kit!" In Judy's arms was the brown kit Eliza had seen earlier in the family room.

"Yes I did. I just finished feeding her in the other room and we thought we'd stop by." Judy sat on one of the beds for younger Bunnies and sighed. "And I wanted to get away from all the chaos. I guess you had the same idea, huh?"

Eliza nods, still looking at the tiny furball. "Can I see him up close?"

"Oh, this one is Lily. She's female but, sure you can see her." Eliza rushed over to the kit and stared. Lily was cute and stared right back at Eliza, wide eyed and curious. Eliza thought Lily's fur had been brown but it was really more of a dulled reddish orange. Certain parts were tinted golden where the sunlight shined in from the window. It looked pretty cool since she'd never seen fur of that exact shade. Eliza got really close to Lily's small face and stared at her strange violet eyes with their small circles of green around the pupils. She had never seen eyes with two starkly different colors in them and it fascinated her. "How'd you make her eyes look like that?"

"Well she just came that way." Judy giggled.

"I wonder how though." Eliza now wished her eyes could look cool like that.

"I guess we'll just ask the Kit store how they made her." Judy said, referencing the answer that Eliza's parents always gave to where kits come from. Eliza felt the soft fur between Lily's ears and then lifted up a tiny paw to compare it's size to hers.

"Kits don't come from the store, Silly." Eliza shook her head wondering how her aunt didn't know. "They come from sex."

Aunt Judy's eyebrows shot right up to the top of her head. An "Oh?" was all she replied with.

Eliza sighed, disappointed that her aunt was so clueless. In truth, Eliza hadn't figured this out until a week earlier when she'd overheard her older brothers talking about it. Then, she'd looked up the rest in the dictionary, but she wouldn't tell her Aunt Judy that. She liked the idea of being seen as super smart so her older siblings and everyone else would stop treating her like a baby. "Yeah, Aunt Judy. That's how we're all here existing right now. Everyone used to be a kit and we just grew up."

"Well not everyone was a kit. There are different names for certain species. Like how Wolves are born as pups." Eliza felt her cheeks grow hot from being corrected.

"I knew that already," Eliza replied. She hadn't, but Aunt Judy didn't have to know that. Eliza went back to playing with Lily when a question came to mind. "What did the other kit look like?" Eliza imagined the possibilities as she waited for a reply. After a moment of silence, Eliza looked up at her aunt who smiled sadly down at Lily.

"Oh. He was light grey and very soft and fluffy," Judy said in a quiet voice.

"Like a raincloud?" Eliza could picture it clearly now.

"Sure. Like a raincloud," she said, stroking the fur between Lily's tiny head.

"What was his name?" Judy gave her the look older mammals had when Eliza asked too many questions.

"Myles."

Eliza gasped. "Oh! I get it. Like the alphabet?"

"What?" Judy asked, confused.

"Lily is L, Myles is M, and Noah is N. It's the part that goes L, M, N, O, P."

Aunt Judy smiled for real now and nodded. Both Bunnies looked up when small tapping sounds came from the doorway. It was the Fox and he was as almost as tall as the ceiling up here! She couldn't wait to tell her friends at school that her uncle was a Fox. She realized she was missing one detail, though.

"Hello. I'm Eliza. What's your name?" She asked the Fox, recalling the polite way to introduce herself.

The Fox knelt down in front of Eliza, shook her paw, and talked to her like she was a grown up. "Hi Eliza. I'm Nick. Mind if I steal your Aunt Judy from you?" Eliza smiled brightly at finally being called her big kit name. She wasn't ready to say bye but she was content in knowing that she got more alone time with Lily than all of her other siblings.

"I guess I don't mind."

"Ready to go, Carrots?" Nick asked and, with Judy's nod, they all left the room.

Eliza, and the rest of her family, followed them outside. After taking about twenty pictures with different groups of the family, her aunt and uncle seemed ready to go. Eliza's mom and Aunt Judy were laughing about something and Uncle Nick held the two kits in either paw to their car. There was a slight mist in the air, signalling that it would start raining soon. She looked up to see a greyish blue sky with clouds strewn across it. One cloud, in particular stood out. "Aunt Judy!" Eliza bellowed out. Judy turned to look at Eliza who pointed up at the sky. Past her finger was a grey cloud shaped like a Bunny head with slightly pointed ears. "It's Myles!" Judy searched the sky and paused when she saw the cloud.

"Elizabeth Jane Hopps. Go to timeout," Eliza's father's strong voice ordered.

Judy interrupted, still staring at the sky. "No, no it's fine. It's one of our inside jokes." Then, turning to Eliza, she gave one last smile and got into the car.

A chorus of byes and chatter filled the front yard as the car pulled off and drove away. Eliza looked up at the sky again, but couldn't find the cloud. A droplet of water plopped right onto her nose, making her notice the light rain falling around her. Eliza ran back towards the house. "Dibs on the dollhouse!" She yelled, causing some of her sisters to race after her.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan and his fiancee, Cassandra, were on their first night out since their kits were born. This was their second attempt since, the first time, Cass freaked out and begged for them to go back home. They chose a nearby restaurant with average prices and cramped seating. Cass said the pictures looked better on Zoogle but Ryan didn't mind. They were Foxes so they wouldn't need much space anyway.

Ryan and Cass went through every step to prepare for this night. They hired an experienced babysitter who knew CPR and set out all the toys and diapers, but they still couldn't focus on each other.

"It's so weird not being with them. I keep looking around, expecting to see them," Ryan said.

Cass nodded and closed her menu. "I can't even read the entrees. I just see Jake and Kevin's names over and over." Cass looked down in her lap at the baby monitoring app that showed the kits sleeping in their cribs.

"Cass, they're fine," Ryan reassured her. He secretly wanted to check the app himself but he held back.

"I just want to make sure."

"Come on, Cass. This date was your idea." He was half sure she'd ask to go home again,, making it their second failed attempt.

"I know," she groaned. "But it just feels like no one can take care of them the way we can. Why can't we just take them everywhere we go?"

"You know you don't really want that."

She nodded. "Okay," She put her phone away and opened her menu again. "We can do this."

"That's the spirit," Ryan said cheerily.

"I'm just going to the ladies room first." She took her phone and walked to the back of the restaurant. That didn't take long. Ryan sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Would you like a refill?"

Ryan looked up at the waitress. "Yeah sure, thanks." Once the waitress left, Ryan felt a light tapping at his shoulder. He turned a bit to see a Fox who looked strangely familiar sitting alone at a table to his right.

"Don't worry. It gets easier." the guy said.

"How long will that take? I think my girlfr- I mean fiancee just ditched me to check on our kits." Ryan chuckled and the other Fox did the same.

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" asked the green-eyed Fox.

"I'm not sure." Ryan shrugged.

"Well, where are you from?" Ryan got that question a lot since he was still trying to master his pronunciation in this language.

"I'm not from here. Grew up in Tillandsia across the ocean. I'm sure we never met there."

"But you live in the Clifton area?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"No one would travel more than three miles to come here," the familiar Fox answered. Ryan snorted and then noticed Cass weaving past the tables. A second later, he noticed a small Bunny trailing her.

"And there she is." Cass sat across from Ryan grinning brightly. When Ryan saw the female Bunny sit across from the Fox he'd been talking to, it all came back to him.

"Ryan. Do you remember Judy and Nick from our birthing class?" Cass asked. They were the hybrid couple he and Cass met over half a year ago in that boring overpriced class Cass dragged him to.

"Oh yeah," Nick said, dragging out the words as he recognized Ryan. "That class we never needed." Judy rolled her eyes and shared a look with Cass.

"What?" Cass challenged. "That class was super helpful. Right Judy?"

"Of course." Judy smiled at Nick in a told-you-so way.

Ryan sided with Nick. "Everything you learned there you could have Zoogled for free."

"Exactly!" Nick agreed. "It was a total waste of money"

"Right?" Ryan was beginning to enjoy the outing much more now.

"Well considering it was a birthing class," Cass made sure to put an emphasis on _'birthing,_ ' "Wouldn't the arguments from the ones who actually gave birth have more merit here?"

"Right. I learned a ton," Judy added.

"Carrots, you were asleep half the time," said Nick.

"Drowsiness is a pregnancy symptom," Cass countered.

Judy nodded. "Yeah, and the fact that I learned so much being awake for only half of the classes just proves our point."

"Alright, Alright." Nick put his paws up as if in surrender. "Can we at least admit that the class was a snore-fest?"

Cass and Judy seemed to consider it for a moment before muttering agreements.

Cass spoke up. "But that doesn't mean it was a waste of money. It's like how some college classes are boring and we pay for those." Cassandra looked to Ryan who shrugged. He could see some truth in both sides.

"Here we go," Judy said, looking expectantly at Nick.

Ryan tilted his head. "What?"

Nick cleared his throat. "The higher education system is a complete scam." Cass's gasp and complete look of shock made them all laugh.

The couples continued on like that until the restaurant closed. Through all the debates, they'd lost track of time and Ryan only thought of his kits every minute instead of every second.

After he and Cass paid the sitter and checked on their sleeping kits, Cass stayed glued to her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Judy and I are finding scientific sources to prove that ghosts really do exist."

"But they don't"

"Not according to Harold J. Webber."

Ryan's phone buzzed and he checked the notification. "Who's he?"

"A scientist," Cass replied matter-of-factly.

The text message was from Nick: _Can you tell Cass that the Weber guy actually has a PhD in English Theory? Judy's pretending she doesn't hear._

Ryan laughed as he walked to the bedroom to get ready to sleep. Cass followed close behind, then pulled off her pants, and fell back onto their bed. "Oh and Judy wants to set up a play date for the kits to all meet each other. Sounds like fun, right?" Cass smiled as she watched Ryan switch shirts.

"What? They can't even walk yet." He wasn't against hanging out again but calling it a play date made no sense. Maybe it meant something else in this country.

"They don't have to walk to have a play date."

"What would they do other than wiggle on the floor with each other?" Ryan got on the other side of their bed.

Cass sighed. "Fine, they want to hang out again with the kits present. Are you happy now?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Cass put her phone down and squinted at her fiancee.

"I wouldn't mind some dessert." He suggested, reaching out to pull her to him. Cass sat up and crossed her arms.

"Say the birthing class wasn't a waste of money first," she wagered.

Ryan made his accent thicker and feigned confusion. "Sorry. I no understand what you say? Did you say birth class is waste of money?"

Cass picked up her pillow and threw it at him. "I can't believe I agreed to marry you, you Goofball."

He sat up and kissed her. "Neither can I."


	3. Chapter 3

Lily liked bathtime water. It wasn't like the other water that she drank or like when it was wet outside. It was big water all around in the tub and it was warm and nice. If she hit the water it would go up in the air and sometimes it hit Noah. Then Daddy would say, "no splashing," and she would stop.

This bath was fun because Daddy let them bring toys in the tub that day. Lily brought two dolls and Noah brought his toy car. He made the car do tricks on the side of the tub and Lily made her dolls swim and swish underwater. Daddy was putting more water on the two to get the soap bubbles off.

"Out!" Noah told Daddy. Noah stood up and shook his head from side to side, making tiny waters sprinkle everywhere.

Lily giggled and tried the same sound but could only get out an, "ahhh." Then she copied Noah, shaking some water off herself.

"Alright, alright," said Daddy. He leaned down to pick up Noah and then there was a big PLOP sound. Something fell in.

"Ah, shit." Daddy reached in and got the black shiny thing out of the tub.

"Ahshit!" yelled Noah.

Daddy started laughing. "No no. don't say that." He lifted them out of the tub and dried them off.

Lily wanted him to laugh again. "Ahshit!" she squealed.

"Oh, so now you want to talk."

Daddy carried them into their room. Lily liked being carried because she would go up really high in the air. After the bath, it was time to put on clothes for bed.

Daddy held up a shirt. "Lily, what's this?"

Lily tried to say the word. "Sir."

"Shirt!" Noah yelled.

"Okay. Try to say shh" Shh meant to be quiet. Lily kept her mouth closed and put her arms and head through the shirt holes. Noah opened his mouth really big and yawned. Lily did the same. After the clothes, it was time to lay down. They didn't sleep in cribs anymore because they were big kits. Mama said so herself.

Lily tried to get on her bed but it was too tall. She gripped at the blanket to pull herself up and slid back down.

"Da," she said, trying to ask for help. Then she was lifted into her big kit bed and she went under the covers.

Noah was scared of his bed and he whined when Daddy put him in. Lily liked feeling big. She didn't even need her doll to sleep with like Noah needed his.

Noah's whining got louder and he started calling for Mama. Lily was too sleepy to do the same and she felt her eyes get heavy.

"Mommy's at work. You'll see her in the morning." Lily heard him say goodnight to Noah and then felt a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight," Daddy said. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ma pleeease?" Noah tugged on his mother's shirt, making sure to hold the pouty face that gave him whatever he wanted. She was sitting at the dining table that was covered in a mess of papers that made crinkling sounds every time she moved them. Lily started to make whimpering noises from the other side of the table.

"We wanna go outside," Lily whined quietly.

"Yeah," Noah added. "And make dirt pies!" He tugged on the shirt again, sniffing loudly.

His Ma didn't look away from the papers when she spoke. "Lily. Come here please."

Lily locked eyes with Noah, probably afraid that the calm tone was a trap. She stepped slowly until the two siblings stood next to each other. Ma let out a breath, closed her laptop, and turned to face them. "Do you know why I'm here and you two aren't at daycare?"

Noah thought for a moment. "Cause the dumb-dumbs bringed their sick kits to make me and Lily sick?"

"What? No. Don't call them dumb-dumbs. Just-"

"But Daddy said-"

"Daddy was just making a joke that's not meant to be repeated."

Lily spoke up. "Is it cause you have to watch us?" Noah pursed his lips. Ma wasn't watching them. She was watching those dumbo papers with a bunch of tiny letters on them. Noah sneezed, making an icky glob of snot stick onto his fur.

"Yes Lil, that's right. But if I'm watching you it means I'm not at work. So I have to work here at the table, okay?" Ma got tissue from the table and wiped Noah's nose.

"So we can't go outside?" Noah asked through the tissue.

Ma shook her head. "You two aren't old enough to go out alone and I have to stay here. Your toys are right over there. Go ahead, now." She turned the kits around and nudged them towards the play area in the living room. The siblings looked at their Ma then at each other. Noah's smile said _I have an Idea_. Lily's wide eyes asked _What is it?_ Noah grabbed his sister's hand and they ran over to their toys.

"We'll make our own mud pie inside!" Noah whisper yelled to his sister. They walked past the the toys and into the kitchen. Thankfully, their Ma was in a room where she wouldn't see them. Lily went straight for the cupboard near the floor and removed the big metal container of hot cocoa powder. The two grinned at each other devilishly. The cocoa powder looked just like dirt! Lily placed the huge container onto the tile with ease.

"Wha'do we do now?" Lily asked.

Noah bent to take off the container's lid and then, in one swift motion, he lifted the container and turned it over, The contents spilled steadily onto the floor, causing clouds of chocolate to rise and tickle their noses. Lily sneezed and backed away slightly.

"Do you need a tissue, Lil?" Ma's voice carried into the kitchen.

"No," Lily's high pitched voice responded. Then she whispered to Noah, "Why'd you put it on the floor? It coulda stayed inside."

"Cause to be like the outside the dirt has to be everywhere. Like this." Noah kicked the pile of cocoa spreading the pretend dirt in front of him. Lily covered her mouth, giggling. It was pretty funny so he kicked it around some more times until Lily joined him. Noah laughed too and looked down at his feet. They were covered in the cocoa mix and the fur looked almost completely brown instead of red.

"Hey Lil, look!" Noah cupped handfuls of the powder and rubbed it all over his fur. "I look like you now!" He said pointing at her rust colored fur.

Lily stiffened and stopped laughing. "I don't look like that!"

Noah began to argue, but the sound of the front door closing stopped him. He heard his father's voice talking to Ma. Noah's fur stood on end and Lily looked back and forth between the dining room and the piles of cocoa mix strewn across the floor. They hadn't thought this plan through.

"Lil? Noah?" Their father's voice called. Noah heard footsteps coming from the dining room. There was no way to clean up in time and the two ran to hide in the pantry.

"We're gonna get in trouble," Lily whined once Noah had pulled the door closed, surrounding them in complete darkness. A second later, there was a gasp from outside the pantry and then muffled words. Noah could hear Lily shifting around and sniffling.

"D'you think they know we're in here?" He asked quietly. As if to answer his question, the pantry door swung open and Ma and Dad made sounds of surprise when they saw the kits covered in chocolate powder. Noah cautiously stepped out of the pantry and stared at the mess as if he were seeing it for the first time. "Whoa! What happened?" He asked. Ma crossed her arms and Dad started laughing, but he stopped when Ma looked at him.

"Noah," his Ma said. "Do you know who did this?" Noah began to shake his head but Lily answered first.

"We did." She sounded close to tears and Noah turned, asking her _What are you doing?_ with his gaze. Since his first idea wasn't working, he tried to copy Lily's pouty face and watery eyes. It wasn't hard to do since the idea of getting in trouble made him upset already.

"Were you trying to lie?" Ma asked him. The sternness of her voice meant that Noah was being bad. He didn't want to be a bad kit and he pursed his lips together to hold in his whimpers. Ma's features softened and she knelt down to Noah's height.

"Okay, come here," she sighed, her arms outstretched. Noah put his arms up and walked to his Ma to be picked up. Once he calmed, Ma put Noah back down with Lily and the mess.

"Carrots, move over to the sink for a sec?" Noah looked up to see his Dad taking a picture of Noah and Lily with his phone.

"Is that really necessary?" Ma asked.

"Oh yeah. I'm sending this to everyone."


End file.
